Throughout the Mike Price era, UTEP has gotten so adept at reloading the receiving corps that it's shocking to see it fire blanks.

There was cause for concern coming into the fall with only two proven wideouts in Mike Edwards and Jordan Leslie, who accounted for 80 of the 84 returning catches at the position. But that's often the case at Camp Socorro, and the situation typically shakes out fine by the time the scoreboard is turned on.

UTEP still is confident its receivers will emerge starting Saturday at Ole Miss, but against Oklahoma the receivers were invisible.

"There are so many guys who hadn't played, and it being such a big game, a first game, obviously they didn't play like they can," position coach Guy Holliday said. "They'll put their heads down and work hard. That wasn't a classic UTEP performance. There is better to come.

"It was a big game, 50,000 people, and we were playing three guys who had never played before. There were nerves and anybody who has been an athlete knows that happens. The biggest thing is they played -- they played in that arena, that game, that opponent.

"Experience is the biggest teacher."

It was a harsh one against the Sooners. Up against what likely will stand as the toughest secondary they will face, receivers accounted for three of the team's seven catches. Leslie, Malcolm Trail and Ian Hamilton each had one grab, and now the corps is facing the loss of Edwards, who suffered a concussion late in a game in which he was shut out.

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"In my eyes, I didn't make plays the times I got the opportunity," Leslie said. "I look at it like it was my fault. I just have to get the guys going, instill confidence in them. They have the talent.

"(Oklahoma's secondary is) the best in the nation, but we had chances to make plays. I, myself, did not make plays I usually make. It's disappointing."

As Holliday indicated, the team is pinning hopes on the simple expectation of typical Game 1 to Game 2 improvement. Four receivers -- Felix Neboh, Jim Jones, Hamilton and Jaquan White -- were making their UTEP debuts, and one of the most experienced receivers on the roster, Devin Patterson, was out with a concussion. He will play against Ole Miss.

"It feels great to be back," said Patterson, who did practice twice late last week. "That's what Coach (Holliday) was telling me; now I've got to step up, take as much reps as I can, get back in the swing of things. We need to do what we'd been doing all Socorro -- do what we do, compete."

A big part of that confidence is that UTEP caught the ball well in August against its own defense, a defense that looked quite competent against Okla homa's passing game. Improve ment can come from returning to the form they had throughout Camp Socorro.

"We need to catch the ball better," Price said. "They've got to get open; they were covered pretty well. We had some younger players in. We didn't play like we had practiced. It was a first game. But these are good kids, good character, well coached and they will get better. We'll keep working on it. They were so spectacular all fall. We'll step up, we'll play better."

"We know we definitely could have played better," said the junior college transfer Hamilton. Oklahoma was "a good secondary, but we did not play to our potential. We have to work on fixing the kinks. They played a lot of man coverage so it's getting off the press, just getting open. We weren't getting open."

Said Jones: "We need to work harder in practice to get on board with the quarterbacks, get everything down. In the second half, we didn't perform."

Quarterback Nick Lamaison has faith that his targets will get better.

"We need to stay confident, believe in our game plan, believe in what we're doing," he said. "It's confidence."

UTEP will try to build some of that Saturday.

Bret Bloomquist may be reached at bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; 546-6359. Follow him on Twitter @bretbloomquist.